Palaeontologists have discovered a new species of ancient snake that lived 5 million years ago.
The snake, Zilantophis schuberti, bore uniquely wing-shaped projections on the sides of its vertebrae. It was a small snake, about 12-16 inches long. This find will help researchers understand more about the rich biodiversity of the ecosystem it inhabited.
Steven Jasinski, a doctoral student from the University of Pennsylvania and lead author, said: “This animal was probably living in leaf litter, maybe doing a bit of digging and either eating small fish or more likely insects. It was too small to be eating a normal-sized rodent.”
The fossils come from the Gray Fossil Site, in Tennessee, one of the richest fossil sites in the US. Based on the species found there it is estimated be between 7 and 4.5 million years ago, straddling both the Miocene (23 to 5.33 million years ago) and the Pliocene (5 to 2.58 million years ago). When Zilantophis would have been alive, the site would have been a sinkhole surrounded by a forest, with local fauna including ancient versions of bears, beavers and salamanders.
Seven different genera of snakes have been identified by researchers such as ancient species of garter snake (Thamnophis), water snake (Nerodia), rat snake (Pantherophis), pine snake (Pituophis) and whip snake (Masticophis). David Moscato, study co-author and also from the University, said: “Back in its day, the Gray Fossil Site was a great environment for living animals to thrive and for dead animals to fossilise. This makes for a palaeontology goldmine, positively packed with bones.”-read more
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